S: Ravaphine Plot
Pre-1 You're still slogging across the forested kingdom of Rodoza, about halfway between your own home of Rauvi and that of your mom's ex-lover, Culpija. One moment, it's late morning and you're on a well-worn road, trying to avoid twisting your ankle in a wagon rut, and the next, you're standing in the center of a town square, on a cobblestone road. Session 1 PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: "I was on my way to deliver a package to...a friend of my mother's. I don't remember falling asleep, I just woke up here. Does anybody know where we are?" Ravaphine asks the group. She then approaches the closest building to try to see any sign of identification of the strange town Session 3 PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: "Same thing happened to us. I was just trying to deliver a package and I woke up here" Pre-4? You had just helped to defeat the goblins in a cave with your Bellbury companions when poof you’re back in the middle of a well-worn road, just dodging out of the way of a wagon that was traveling along the road. You recognize it as the same place you vanished from, but about three hours later. Time has passed, but you are in the same place. You managed to hail the next wagon that passed by and hitched a ride with them in exchange for mending a few of their items with your cantrips. When you arrived at Latamas, you asked around for the city's library. You discovered that the library is located within their mage's college, but before you could reach it, you were suddenly standing right back in the town square of Bellbury. Pre-5? The sun is just starting to rise as you find yourself back in the city of Latamas. Looking around as the city begins to stir, you can see the spires of the mage's college, The Arimas School of Wizardry, ahead. PM DM: You have 30 min but you'll also have several hours "in the middle" of this session, so you can do stuff with both now if you want. You're standing there in Latamas with the Arimas School of Wizardry ahead of you. What do you want to do? PM Ravaphine: Approach while keeping a low profile. ((Have I heard Arimas before?)) PM DM: Depends. How far into your cross-continental journey are you? PM Ravaphine: about 5 days prior to the first poof PM DM: You were on the road for five days already? Then yeah, it's been spoken of. Your mentor probably talked about it a bit, though it wasn't the one she learned at. PM DM: So you take a few minutes to reach the front of the building. It's large, the largest you can see in the area, and when you go inside, there's a half-elf behind a desk in the foyer who points you down and to the right to the library. PM Ravaphine: Ravaphine decides to see if there are any potion cabinets in any of the rooms on the way to the library PM DM: You start rummaging through cupboards, but you hear a clearing of throat and see an older elf glaring at you. "Goods are not for public use." PM DM: Before you can reply, you find yourself back in Bellbury's town square. Session 23 PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: "I like to believe that all this happened for a reason, but I'm not too sure if even its mastermind knew of what was going to transpire. We all kind of just, ended up together because we wanted to go home but also help everyone even though we all have other things to do. Although we didn't have much of a choice" she says now with her turn to stare into the fire PM DM: Poni: "I'm right here, you know. Though I do like the title 'Mastermind.'" PM Ryleigh (Nicole): Ryleigh blatantly ignores the staff and continues to address Ravaphine, "Does it upset you that you cannot return at will? Do you have a family waiting for you? Or other loved ones?"(edited) PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: Ravaphine looks at Zunis and hopes that he didn't hear that PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: "My mother is the only family I have. Took me in when I was a kid, but now she's...sick" she changes the subject while shaking off the almost tears in her eyes. "I wonder where Nolanos and Seir have gone. They've been gone for hours now"(edited) PM DM: Gunnloda: "Sick? Oh no... is there anything that can be done for her?" PM Ryleigh (Nicole): Ryleigh politely looks away so Ravaphine can have her moment of hurt. PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: Rav shakes her head. "Sometimes it's just that time. I always wish I could slow it down, but she's almost 400, that one. A gnome so she only goes up to about my hip. Kind of reminds me of you" she smiles to Gunnloda, poking fun of her height PM DM: Gunnloda just smiles and shakes her head. "Dwarves are a bit taller than halflings and gnomes." PM DM: Gunnloda: "Then again, I suppose maybe I'm just a big halfling." PM Ryleigh (Nicole): A small smile pulls at Ryleigh's lips then adds, "I would say you are of average height for your kind." PM DM: Gunnloda: "And don't you forget it."(edited) Session 24 PM DM: Though you trance instead of sleeping, it doesn’t stop your mind from producing what could be considered dreams, though you usually have at least some control over their content and direction. Tonight, like they do frequently, your thoughts turn toward the mother figure you’ve had for the last hundred years. You see her, sitting up in her bed, writing a letter that you know will never be read. A shadow stretches over the floor and up the bed and as it crosses her face, you watch as her skin sags, her eyes become hollowed, her hair thins. As you get closer to this ancient husk, she reaches out and points a gnarled, withered finger at you and though her voice cracks as though her vocal chords had stiffened to the point that they were non-functional, you hear her voice in your mind as clear as day. “You were supposed to tell her. She could have saved me.” She falls lifeless against the pillow, a desiccated corpse that turns to dust and ash as it hits, and in that cloud of particulate you see an image form. It’s you, lying on a beach, unconscious, as a great tentacle reaches out, wraps around your legs, and drags you towards the sea. PM DM: You pull yourself out of the dream in a cold sweat, but with no further complications. You see Nolanos sitting straight up in the bed. PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: Ravaphine attempts to steady her breathing and heartrate back to normal when she also hears her roommate stirring about in his bed. She walks up to sit on the edge of the bed. "Hey are you okay? Bad dream?" PM Alex - Nolanos: Nolanos wakes with an abrupt start, panting as though he would never be able to breathe again, very disturbed by the dream he just had, but then he realizes that's all it was. It was just a dream... His breath begins to slow as he calms down. "Oh my god..." he mutters. "That was just... oh my god..." PM Alex - Nolanos: "I um... Yeah. Yeah, it was a bad dream," he responds, slightly dazed. As he says this, he looks over and sees that Ravaphine also looks like she had a rough night. "I should ask you the same... Are you alright?" PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: She grabs a towel and hands it to Nolanos. "I will be okay. I'm just glad it was only a dream. Should we head out to go find the others and some water?" PM Alex - Nolanos: "Thanks" Nolanos says with a small smile as he accepts the towel. "We probably should head down, i suppose." He pauses. "Do you... do you want to talk about your dream?" PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: "It was about my mom," she breaks eye contact and looks off to the side. "She's sick and I didn't want to leave her but I was doing a favor for her when I got transported to Bellbury. So being gone this long is making me feel so guilty because what if something happens while i'm away?" She hugs herself and changes the subject PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: "How about you? do you want to talk about your dream?" PM Alex - Nolanos: "It's been, what? A week? I'm sure that, if your mother is anything like you, she's okay." Nolanos says, hoping to comfort Ravaphine. "And she'll still be okay when you get home." PM Alex - Nolanos: "As for my dream, it uh. It's a bit hard to even find the words to explain... I just felt so...alone? I've always been alone, so I should be used to it, but it was different this time."(edited) PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: "You're too nice," she says with a small smile. "And you won't be alone because you have...us!" she reaches her hand out to cover his. PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: She retracts back and coughs. "Speaking of the others, we should head back downstairs and see what they're up to" PM Alex - Nolanos: Nolanos smiles as his face blushes warmly. "I am certainly glad for that," he says, briefly tightening his grasp on her hand. PM Alex - Nolanos: Nolanos clears his throat. "You're right, we should check up on everyone." PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: Ravaphine gets up and motions for Nolanos to follow her downstairs PM Alex - Nolanos: And follow her, he does. Session 28 PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: "My mother...my mother is a wizard. She specializes in conjuration and I'm not sure if she will know how to help reverse the curse, but I'm sure she will understand the situation. I need to pay her a visit soon anyway. Would any of you like to visit home with me? or should we go find Misha?" she asks the group Seirixori: "We need to go find their daughter." PM Jaymes - Ravaphine: Ravaphine tries not to look upset for not being able to visit her mom but she nods to Seir. "Yes. we should find misha" Session 32 It's about... 5 am, day 8, after all the mess with Seirixori's trial. Seir finds herself walking down the stairs to Poni's basement, but someone's already down there. Ravaphine is holding Poni, watching what looks like a sleeping gnome in a bed, barely being lit by dawn's first light coming through the window. AM Seirixori: Seir nearly trips down the stairs, "Oh... I... I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone would...be here." she whispers, clutching something in her hands. AM Ravaphine: Rav panics and pushes the button to turn off the portal. After she wipes the tears off her face, she looks to Seir. “Hi, I didn’t know if you wanted your citrus grove back for the night. I didn’t know where else to go” ------------- Seir stands, playing with the trinket Nolanos gave her, "I'm sorry that I... that I interrupted you." AM Ravaphine: "There was nothing to interrupt, just trying to feed my curiosity is all. Although I'm always so tempted to just jump in" AM Seirixori: Seirixori sighs, smiling sadly, "Just take someone with you... even if it's... back home. No one else needs to lose everything," then she whispers, mostly to herself, "again..." Seir clears her throat, "because they went off by themselves." she laughs, "I should know." And she starts to head up the stairs. ---------------- [''8:18 PM] DM: So it's just before dawn Day 8. You're in Poni's basement and Seir just left. The component's on the counter with the others now. ''[''8:22 PM] Ravaphine: Ravaphine, not wanting to push Seir further out of her comfort zone, lets her leave without following her out. Instead of trancing, Rav takes a minute to look over Poni's notebook about the teleporter. ''[''8:22 PM] Ravaphine: She pulls out Poni from behind the books ''[''8:23 PM] Ravaphine: "Tell me more about the astromanic crystals, Poni." ''[''8:24 PM] DM: Poni: "They're blue." ''[''8:25 PM] Ravaphine: "That's...great. Can you show me Qarius' office at your old college?" Rav pushes the button ''[''8:28 PM] DM: The portal comes to life. It's near dawn there as well and the office is empty. There's a desk in the center of the room with a comfy chair on one side and slightly less comfy chairs on the other. The desk is mostly clear, except for what looks like a folded piece of paper in the center of it, open. There's a bunch of books in a bookshelf behind the desk, but that's about all you can make out from this angle. ''[''8:29 PM] Ravaphine: "Is this where you would get in trouble all the time?" Rav asks while chuckling. "Where did you find the crystals in the first place?" ''[''8:31 PM] DM: "Why should I tell you? So you can throw me about more or try to take them from me?" ''[''8:32 PM] DM: "I should just make you go get the next component. Teach you a lesson like that dragonscaled idiot." ''[''8:33 PM] Ravaphine: "Think of it as an insurance policy. This is our last crystal so if it breaks...that's kind of it for us...and I would love to fetch the next component but if I don't die from whatever creatures await for me, Urrak and Ryleigh will probably have my head" ''[''8:34 PM] DM: "Brutes with no sense of finesse those two." ''[''8:34 PM] Ravaphine: "But wow, are they strong" Rav stares off to space for a second thinking about how stronk Ryleigh and Urrak both are ''[''8:35 PM] Ravaphine: "And if not them, Baroness Moonstream will not be happy but I know how much you love her"(edited) ''[''8:36 PM] DM: "Are you just going to blather on about the people you know all night?" ''[''8:36 PM] Ravaphine: "My lips are sealed if you show me where I can find more crystals" ''[''8:37 PM] Ravaphine: "And then we will find the next component, promise" ''[''8:40 PM] DM: "I got them from his desk. I doubt you'll be able to do the same. Even if he still keeps them there, you would be spotted and found out." ''[''8:41 PM] Ravaphine: "It wouldn't hurt to try. Plus I have time before everyone wakes up. And I can find your old stomping grounds" ''[''8:45 PM] Ravaphine: Before Rav steps through the portal, she writes a note on a piece of parchment that says "Be back soon. Going shopping" and places it on the table. ''[''8:45 PM] Ravaphine: She takes a deep breath and steps through the portal ''[''8:49 PM] DM: The scene around you changes. When you look around in the pre-dawn morning, you see you're sitting at the point where two rivers combine into one. Ahead, you can see a squat sort of building, wide and short, but with seven towers that stick up from the corners. ''[''8:50 PM] DM: Not very far away. Maybe a five-ten minute walk. ''[''8:54 PM] DM: It... looks like a building. You don't see any movement outside. There are some windows along the outside. A couple of them have light coming from the other side, but as far as you can tell, along the road you're on straight to the building, there's nobody else out. ''[''8:56 PM] Ravaphine: "Ready Poni? Do you remember which building wing was Qarius'?" ''[''8:57 PM] DM: "His office is in the center of the building. What are you going to do when the Spellguard catches you?" ''[''8:59 PM] Ravaphine: "Cry probably" Rav gets up from where she is sitting and starts to walk towards the building, but hiding behind fixtures (trees? rocks?) every so often ''[''9:02 PM] DM: You don't see any motion on your way up the road. He replies, dripping with sarcasm, "What an excellent plan." ''[''9:03 PM] Ravaphine: "Are people not allowed inside? What if I wanted to pretend to...become a student" her voice becomes shy a little at the end ''[''9:04 PM] DM: "I don't know how someone so dull can possibly handle the arcane arts, but I've been with you quite a bit lately and you are quite possibly the worst liar I have ever met. And Qarius claims there is no necromancy wing." ''[''9:11 PM] Ravaphine: "I wouldn't be lying" she says quietly, "You're right, those spots in school should be saved for the ones who really deserve it. I'm a lousy spellcaster....I'll never be like you or my mother, you guys are so powerful. But I know, I know, I won't bore you with that" ''[''9:12 PM] DM: '' There's a set of double doors ahead of you, up a short staircase flanked by gargoyle statues. [''9:15 PM] DM: Along this edge of the school, yes. Poni scoffs. "Most of the assholes in this school are idiots too, and those that aren't are too short-sighted to understand greatness. Maybe you'd fit right in." ''[''9:18 PM] Ravaphine: Rav can't help but smile at that. "If becoming a student won't work out, I guess we have to sneak in. Let's hope those gargoyles don't shoot fireballs at me" ''[''9:19 PM] DM: Poni: "They only attack if you try to attack the school. Only certain areas are warded against any entry." ''[''9:21 PM] Ravaphine: "Wish me luck." Rav puts poni in her bag and casts invisibility on herself. She approaches the school ''[''9:22 PM] DM: You're invisible. Nothing happens. ''[''9:23 PM] Ravaphine: She looks for any sort of trap before trying the door ''[''9:24 PM] DM: You see no traps. ''[''9:24 PM] DM: The door swings open. ''[''9:24 PM] Ravaphine: She steps through and looks for a campus map ''[''9:27 PM] DM: The entry has stairs that go up and down, and a main hallway just goes straight through from the door towards the center. The hall also goes left and right towards corners of the building where the towers were. There are other halls that split off to the left and right down the main passage. It's still quiet, still before dawn, but you do hear some footsteps down some of the halls and there's a woman in armor, interestingly, walking down the hall in a rush. She's wearing a red tabard over scale armor and it has a gold emblem you can't quite make out from here on it. ''[''9:30 PM] DM: You haven't actually seen any doors yet. Not near where you are. The walls are just plain stone with the occasional tapestry to muffle echoes. ''[''9:31 PM] Ravaphine: Rav goes down straight the main hallway ''[''9:31 PM] DM: Invisibility makes you invisible but doesn't make you quiet. ''[''9:35 PM] DM: '' You make your way down the hall. Down the smaller halls on either side you start to see doors, mostly wooden, set into the stonework. The hall ahead ends at a door and splits to either side. You hear Poni's voice, but this time in your head. "This is the center block for the boring bullshit of running a school that isn't related to actual magic, but there are still protections in place. They change, so I can't tell you where or what." [''9:38 PM] Ravaphine: Rav goes left ''[''9:43 PM] DM: You track around and you see a couple more people here and there. Most are in robes, but every now and then, you see someone in some form of armor with that same red tabard and gold symbol. From what you can tell, the school is a seven sided building, but this center part is squared. There are doors on each side of the block, but none appear to be any different from the others. The only difference you see, as you glance down the halls, is that the tapestries have different colors to them. One hall is green, one is blue, etc. ''[''9:44 PM] Ravaphine: ((does Rav remember what Poni's body was wearing and does that matter in this situation)) ''[''9:45 PM] DM: He was wearing regular clothes. And, as you recall, he was no longer a member of the college, so it wouldn't really matter. ''[''9:47 PM] Ravaphine: Rav puts her ear to the closest door ''[''9:48 PM] DM: You don't hear anything. ''[''9:48 PM] Ravaphine: Rav pushes the door open just a crack and peers in ''[''9:50 PM] DM: Looks like everywhere else. You can hear a little more background noise here though. Sniffles, little coughs... just basic evidence of people being awake in the area. ''[''9:51 PM] Ravaphine: Rav goes inside of this hallway and closes the door behind her. ''[''9:56 PM] DM: There's some open doors as you go, and peeking in, there's some empty chairs in front of desks. One room has a gnome doing paperwork, wearing a white robe. There are some others that are closed. Some of those are marked with variations of the same symbol. It's what looks like a stylized dragon set over what might be hills or an open book. The space behind the dragon changes depending on which door you're looking at. One has stars behind it, another has a moon. ''[''9:59 PM] DM: You've never seen it before, but now that you've seen it up close, you can guess it's also the symbol the armored people had on their chests. ''[''10:00 PM] Ravaphine: Rav picks the doors with the stars ''[''10:02 PM] DM: Just to be clear, those are just a sample of the doors you see. Not all doors have symbols. ''[''10:04 PM] DM: You didn't get close enough to see if there was anything special about their symbols. You're just guessing from the vague shape that it was probably the dragon ''[''10:08 PM] DM: '' There's one that looks like it might be in the middle of the area. The symbol on this one is the same dragon but it has a sort of sunburst behind it. It's smallish, but set apart from all the others with a ring of hallway around it and only one door. [''10:09 PM] Ravaphine: She puts her ear up to this door ''[''10:09 PM] DM: When you touch the door, your invisibility dissipates. ''[''10:10 PM] DM: You didn't open the door, but you don't immediately see anyone around you. ''[''10:11 PM] DM: You don't see or hear anyone moving around. ''[''10:14 PM] Ravaphine: Ravaphine sighs and attempts to open the door, knowing she is no longer invisible ''[''10:14 PM] DM: It opens. ''[''10:15 PM] DM: The door swings open, and you see the office you saw in the portal. A bookshelf, a desk, three chairs, and an opened letter on the desk. There's nothing else in the room. ''[''10:15 PM] DM: Nope. ''[''10:17 PM] Ravaphine: Rav closes the door behind her. She goes to the desk and opens a drawer because why not ''[''10:19 PM] DM: You find a lot of paperwork. Quills. Ink pots. Nothing terribly interesting. ''[''10:21 PM] Ravaphine: She reads the letter on the desk ''[''10:23 PM] Ravaphine: Rav gets a sudden wave of sadness that this will probably be the only way she can ever be at a wizarding school campus: unwanted and unallowed ''[''10:24 PM] DM: Master Qarius,'' The time for requests is over. I must now demand that you send your Spellguard to Bellbury. Something catastrophic has happened thanks to your former student, Mr. Ningel, and we will need your assistance to remedy the matter. I expect to see Spellguard at my doors by the end of the week or the King will be notified of your failure to control your school. -Baroness Eloise Moonstream(edited) [''10:26 PM] DM: You recall seeing a similar letter, half-written on Eloise's desk, requesting aid from Qarius, so this does appear to be newer. ''[''10:28 PM] Ravaphine: Rav pockets the letter, and continues on her search. This time she looks at the bookshelf ''[''10:29 PM] DM: The books appear to be records, not spell-related. ''[''10:31 PM] Ravaphine: She sighs. "I think they're all gone, Poni. There's nothing here" she whispers(edited) ''[''10:31 PM] DM: There's no response. ''[''10:32 PM] Ravaphine: "Poni? I promise you're not in trouble or in detention" she nervously chuckles ''[''10:32 PM] DM: No response. ''[''10:33 PM] Ravaphine: "Does magic not work in this room?"'' she thinks to herself. She tries to cast light on something small, like a quill(edited) [''10:33 PM] DM: Nothing happens. ''[''10:34 PM] Ravaphine: "Great. Seir will be happy to hear that we found a way to make poni stop talking"'' [''10:39 PM] Ravaphine: Rav looks behind the bookcase one last time before giving up ''[''10:42 PM] DM: All you find back there is dust, but as you're standing there, tracing the edge of the shelf, you hear the door open and the dimness that was once dark is lit with warm light. ''[''10:47 PM] Ravaphine: Rav closes her eyes and readies herself to face the consequences. ''[''10:48 PM] DM: "Can I help you?" ''[''10:51 PM] Ravaphine: Rav clears her throat and tries to compose herself. "Hello, my name is Ravaphine and I apologize for barging into your office like this. I was wondering if you could help me. Are you Headmaster Qarius?" ''[''10:52 PM] DM: The man standing in the doorway is a high elf, tall, with long dark hair pulled into a slick ponytail at the base of his skull. He's wearing white robes with gold edging and holding a lantern. "I am. Why are you in my office?" ''[''10:57 PM] Ravaphine: "Headmaster. Hello" she bows in respect. Rav's instinct is to of course, lie, but she doesn't think she has it in her to lie to somebody like Qarius. "I want to be completely honest with you. I wanted to say I would like to inquire about becoming a student at your college, and while I would love to be a part of this institution if I was deemed worthy enough...I'm afraid it is much more than that"(edited) ''[''10:58 PM] DM: He steps inside and sets the lantern on the desk. "We have prodcedures for new admissions. Generally sneaking into my office and snooping about my desk is not one of them." ''[''11:01 PM] Ravaphine: "I do apologize for my unprofessionalism. But this doesn't have to do with admissions. It has to do with... Mr. Ningel. Sort of" ''[''11:02 PM] DM: He sighs and puts his hand to the bridge of his nose. "If I could go one week without hearing that name again. I received the Baroness's letter. The Spellguard will arrive later today. Did she really feel the need to send two messengers?" ''[''11:06 PM] Ravaphine: "She didn't send me, sir. I came here by myself to try to help the City of Bellbury. Poni created a disaster that caused the citizens of bellbury to disappear and I have a group of companions and myself to help search for them. We're kind of the search and rescue team" ''[''11:06 PM] DM: "And this explains your presence here how?" ''[''11:09 PM] Ravaphine: "In order to search for the people, we use astromanic crystals to help find them. I was wondering if you or your college had any to spare to help the people of Bellbury? If there is a cost, I'm sure Baroness Moonstream would be willing to help" ''[''11:13 PM] DM: He scoffs. "If there's a cost. Of course there's a cost. And I assume Mr. Ningel's responsible for the ones that went missing before he left. No, even if I had any to spare, I would not simply hand them over to you. My Spellguard will determine the best course of action and we will proceed from there. Why don't you scurry along now and tell her to calm her hysterics." ''[''11:19 PM] Ravaphine: "Mr. Ningel is gone sir. I'm just trying my best to help. I'm from Rodoza, across the ocean. I live a quiet life but I got sent to this town and I cannot go back home until we fix his mistakes. I didn't sign up for this," her voice breaks slightly as she tries to hold back tears. "Every hour. Every minute that passes, people die. I do not work for the Barroness, but you have to understand that I just want to get back home and get these people home safe." ''[''11:23 PM] DM: "As I said. My Spellguard will arrive later today. They are already preparing. They will assess the situation and we will find the best way forward. Perhaps you should let this all be a lesson in meddling with things beyond your understanding. Now. Should you choose to walk out of this building immediately, I will overlook this intrusion. Otherwise, it might be a great deal longer before you see Rodoza again." ''[''11:28 PM] DM: He's irritated. ''[''11:29 PM] Ravaphine: Rav looks down at her feet and nods. "Thank you for your time, sir". She exits his office and finds a quiet corner away from people ''[''11:30 PM] Ravaphine: "Did you get any of that, Poni?" ''[''11:30 PM] DM: "Let me guess. Anti-magic field." ''[''11:31 PM] Ravaphine: "You guessed correct" ''[''11:31 PM] Ravaphine: "You know, I think you might be slightly nicer than your old headmaster" ''[''11:31 PM] DM: "Qarius is an asshole. I didn't hear or see anything that happened once you went inside." ''[''11:32 PM] Ravaphine: "Just take me back to bellbury" she pushes the button ''[''11:32 PM] DM: You arrive back in the basement. ''[''11:33 PM] DM: It's been about an hour and the sun's first rays are starting to shine down from the gaping hole in the house above the staircase. ''[''11:34 PM] Ravaphine: ''Rav takes her note she left and crumples it up then throws it at the wall. She puts poni safely on the table and curls up into a little ball in the corner of the basement, ready to sleep Session 33ish? AM DM: So... It's about 4:30 pm and you're in the basement with Seir and Nolanos looking at the arch and Seir's soon-to-be necklace when suddenly you're back at the Arimas School of Wizardry, the top divination school in Rodoza. AM Ravaphine: "Ah Rodoza. I never thought I'd see you this soon again" she says to herself while running her hand along the wall AM Ravaphine: ((have I heard about this school before? I know I poofed here before, but like prior knowledge))(edited) AM DM: Yeah, the big schools in Rodoza have the kind of prestige of like Harvard, Yale, etc. Everyone's heard of them and anyone powerful has attended one. AM DM: This one in particular is where the current leader of Rodoza studied.(edited) AM Ravaphine: Ravaphine decides to walk down the hallway to explore the campus a little more. ((any open classrooms or labs right now?)) AM DM: It's a bit crowded, actually. Lots of people in all sorts of robes and even regular clothes walking and talking with others. People are streaming out of the doors of rooms where they probably just had lectures or hands-on practice. The people range in age from the equivalent of early teens to older than Kendall and span through several races, though humans, elves, half-elves are most common. You do catch sight of a dragonborn, a tiefling, and a genasi as they pass though. AM Ravaphine: ((do any trains exist in this world)) AM DM: You know... if they exist anywhere, it'd be here, so sure. AM DM: Powered by magic, of course, not coal. AM Ravaphine: Ravaphine stops a person walking by and asks them "Hi, excuse me. I'm not too familiar with this part of town but I was just wondering if you knew where the nearest train station going south was?" AM DM: He stops and thinks for a second. "If you go west down the main road to Tadeua and take a right, you should be able to follow the signs from there." AM Ravaphine: "thank you" She nods and makes her way out of the college AM Ravaphine: ((are there any horses or things for transportation purposes that aren't a train)) AM DM: Sure, generally at the outskirts of town. Most of the roads down here are mostly foot traffic. AM DM: Sometimes there will be an odd cart or something, but here they're mostly automated or pulled by constructs. AM Ravaphine: Rav looks at the college behind her and sighs sadly while shaking her head. "One day." She continues on the open road, headed south AM DM: Sure. You'd at least know the general layout of the country and the directions you need to go. Maybe not like... Rand McNally or something, but a basic one. AM DM: Maps are expensive. Hand-drawn. AM Ravaphine: ((I'm gonna just have rav continue on south then till she hits other towns, but we can stop it here cause she won't be able to make it to Limagante in an hour, right?))